You can now play 4K videos from a USB drive or home server on the PS4 Pro via the Media Player app, Sony announced in an official blog post on Monday. Of course, you’ll still need a 4K TV to watch it as intended.
The only caveat is that the files must be in MP4 format, as opposed to the more popular MKV container, which not only supports more video codecs, but can also store subtitles. It doesn't have decode support for HECV aka H.265 either, so you'll need to ensure the files are encoded using H.264.
As a reminder, Sony added that any USB drives that have been formatted to serve as extended storage for your PS4 can’t save or play videos. They can only carry your games and apps.
If you own PlayStation VR, on top of having a PS4 Pro, you can also watch 4K video content in virtual reality. “For those of you that own PlayStation VR in addition to PS4 Pro, Media Player will also update to support playback of 4K VR video content,” John Koller, VP PlayStation’s brand marketing, said in a statement.
“PS VR’s display resolution is 1920 X RGB X 1080, so 4K VR videos will be displayed in a higher image quality compared to HD VR videos,” he added. “Capture stunning 360-degree 4K footage, and then immerse yourself in that footage in VR at home — just as if you’re right back in the scene you shot.”
There are currently only a handful of cameras that can record 360-degree videos in 4K resolution – the likes of Samsung Gear 360, Kodak SP360 4K, and 360Fly 4K.
You can also head to YouTube if you’re looking for videos shot professionally, which runs in 4K on the PS4 Pro, alongside both Netflix and Hulu.
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